New Delhi, April 9 -- Tight budgets and uneven praise: this appraisal season, bosses face a high-stakes tightrope walk.

With a limited budget and a slowing economy, bosses are staring at a classic corporate dilemma-how to reward top talent without alienating the rest.

The "meets expectations" crowd is large, the high performers fewer but critical. Retaining one could mean losing another. So, how does the boss choose between two stars when he can't afford to lose either?

Hence, dear bosses - Mark My Worth presents the rulebook on how to prefer one high potential over another and retain both.

Batch parity principle

Managers recommend that high performers of a similar age group are promoted together. The initial levels of promotion are ...